


settle already, will you?

by vanitaslaughing



Series: Cor Leonis Week [3]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen, Growing Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-03
Updated: 2018-02-03
Packaged: 2019-03-13 07:15:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13565535
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanitaslaughing/pseuds/vanitaslaughing
Summary: “You’re just inviting the inevitable heat death of your massively inflated ego,” Theia muttered as she changed from cat to raven and fluttered over to a shelf. “I don’t want to settle, Cor. Is that truly so bad?”“Yes! I mean, no. I mean. I just want us to be taken seriously. And people don’t take us serious if you change from a cat to a raven,” he began, and Theia on the shelf changed form, “to… frog.”





	settle already, will you?

**Author's Note:**

> Cor Leonis Week - Day 7: Crossover
> 
> aka the his dark materials au nobody ever asked for  
> and its the final thing ill be writing, too! man this was fun, even if i struggled pretty bad with day 6.

Cor was different from most of his peers. He wanted this settling business over and done with as soon as possible, but unfortunately it seemed like Theia was not entirely willing to cooperate with that. She changed her forms almost defiantly whenever they were on the road, matched her size to Clarus Amicitia’s Hortensia, got between Cid Sophiar’s Augusta and Weskham Armaugh’s Maris whenever those two had one of their spats. The only dæmon she never once attempted to size up was Persephone, mostly because that was absolutely forbidden in all of Lucis – she was the crown prince’s dæmon, and being disrespectful to her could easily mean that Cor would get dispelled from the Crownsguard.

Most teenagers his age wanted their dæmon to keep changing forms. Cor just wanted to feel less like the child who was sent along to this trip – and Theia disagreed. She liked changing forms she said several times, often pointedly to the other four dæmons in the group. Proudly, loudly. To the darn crown prince of Lucis that they were supposed to serve even.

At least Cid found these antics endearing. He said that it reminded him of his daughter back at home, how she and her dæmon too would constantly declare that they would never stop changing forms.

“Eventually the ol’ bugger settled as salamander. Suits ‘em both rather nicely.”

Cor just wanted this to be over with. Theia changed into a massive bull and threatened to trample Maris – the raccoon merely laughed as she climbed onto Weskham’s shoulder.

* * *

Most people would bet on what form a child’s dæmon would settle as. Cor knew for a fact that most people seemed to agree that Theia would settled as lion because of his last name and his pushy behaviour. He had to admit that a lion sounded impressive – not many people could boast a dæmon like that. The only person that came to mind was Clarus; his Hortensia had settled as tiger. All-around impressive and definitely something that people respected, and Cor wanted to be respected more than anything else. He wasn’t just some kid with a changing dæmon, he was a member of the Crownsguard and one of the most talented of them anyway.

“You’re just inviting the inevitable heat death of your massively inflated ego,” Theia muttered as she changed from cat to raven and fluttered over to a shelf. “I don’t want to settle, Cor. Is that truly so bad?”

“Yes! I mean, no. I mean. I just want us to be taken seriously. And people don’t take us serious if you change from a cat to a raven,” he began, and Theia on the shelf changed form, “to… frog.”

“Watch it, maybe I’ll settle as dung beetle just to spite you!”

“Well, at least you’d be settled then!”

The frog on the shelf croaked angrily and for the rest of the day she gave him the silent treatment.

* * *

He was seventeen now, and still she changed forms. Less frequently than before, but still she changed forms. There was an undeniable rift between the two of them at this point, one that had started to get more and more intense after the Proving Grounds.

Undead were not all that uncommon, but the very end of the challenge had shaken something in the foundation of Cor and Theia’s relationship. The Blademaster had been impressive, but not something that they would have thought to be human – until they saw the house sparrow on his shoulder. The Blademaster was human and he had a dæmon with him. The longer the fight dragged on the more desperate Theia became until she turned herself into a magpie and attacked the other dæmon. That was the only time that the Blademaster and Cor stopped.

Dæmons attacking other dæmons was not that unusual, but still it startled Cor. Where he was reckless and brave, Theia often played the coward and common sense. To see her attacking another dæmon with such desperation was something he had never seen before.

The Blademaster stopped for another reason altogether. “The soldier is a child,” he said to his dæmon once it escaped Theia’s claws. The rest of the fight Cor did not remember. He suffered a heavy blow to his head that left him disoriented, without parts of his memory, and with constant migraines.

Ever since Cor and Theia spoke as little as possible. Unfortunately he could not leave her behind whenever she sulked – it physically hurt to attempt it, and either he would get back into her range or she would stop sulking and followed him around.

“No, Cor. I don’t want to settle still. The sooner I settle the sooner we will be taken for soldiers and… we aren’t. Cor, we aren’t soldiers.”

They were soldiers. They fought almost daily beside the prince and his retinue. Hells, Cor was considered part of it at this point.

Thus one day when they were recovering from a fight, he noticed an animal limping about. It wasn’t all that unusual.

Then it changed forms. Slowly. Agonisingly slowly. Cor had to look away and Theia whimpered beside him. Since it was his turn of keeping watch he decided to check it out – this was too bad to be ignored.

Touching another’s dæmon was taboo. He asked Theia to poke the creature that seemingly did not see them as it sat there in a miserable heap. It did not react, and Theia shuddered.

“Cor. There’s no people around… where is...”

She was right, of course. There were no humans around at all to who this miserable heap could belong, and it chilled Cor to his very bones. They stood there in silence for a few minutes until at last the dæmon moved.

“03754108… Where’s 03754108?”

“Ex… Excuse me?” Theia’s voice was surprisingly raw, and the strange dæmon stared straight past her and at Cor with watery eyes. “Cor, what do you make of this?”

“03754108… 03754108, 03754108, 03754108, 03754108...”

Though their bond was crumbling they sat there together, Cor even going as far as holding Theia tightly as the strange dæmon repeated the same string of numbers for hours upon hours until at least it burst into flame a few minutes before Weskham and Maris woke up for their shift of standing watch.

* * *

A week after that he woke up in Insomnia and felt that something had changed. Theia was up already and sitting on his lamp – she was a surprisingly small bird this time. He couldn’t see it properly but it definitely looked like what others called a European robin.

“Cor?” Her voice was soft, softer than it usually was. She had been acting kind of strange since that day they found the humanless dæmon, but this was peak odd even for her.

“Yes?”

“I… I think I’m done.”

They had spent over two years arguing when no one was around. Two years of him wanting to be taken seriously and two years of her refusing to play along with his plans. Cor sat up in bed and held out his hand. Theia reluctantly fluttered off the lamp to land in his palm, and Cor couldn’t help but smile at her. She was half of his soul, his best friend, the only one who ever understood him.

“You don’t… you don’t have to stop changing for my sake, Theia. I apologise for pushing you as hard as I did.”

“No! No, you had a point. What I wanted was childish. I woke up and I just… I dunno. It felt right somehow. I’m done now.”

He tilted his head a little. “Why the bird, though? I mean, as long as you’re happy, but it’s… an odd choice?”

She puffed out her plumage a little. “There’s a reason, but I don’t have to tell you. All you really need to know is that this feels right.”

He left it at that.

At first people thought that Theia was simply having an odd day. Only after five consecutive days of her being a robin they asked if she had settled. Most people looked disappointed, some even started laughing. Cor hated it, he hated it so much.

“Just ‘cause they were expectin’ somethin’ else doesn’t mean they can be like that.” Cid gave Cor a reassuring pat on the shoulder before he left the Citadel. “She’s fine th’way she is, long as she’s happy.”

Theia was happy. It meant that Cor was happy, and over the years he started to learn to appreciate the fact that she could fly some short distances. It made for an excellent vantage point.

* * *

“Say, Marshal?”

“Yes, Ignis?”

Years had passed and other than the occasional new recruit mentioning how hilarious it was that Leonis did not have a lion dæmon nobody ever mentioned it. Some even went as far as fearing the least threatening-looking dæmon in the entire Citadel – because she was the Marshal’s dæmon. She did not always play by rules, was bossy and proud and loud about it. She had mentioned Cor’s ego dying an inevitable heat death in the past, and now their roles were reversed. He loved it, all things considered.

Ignis Scientia was going to be Prince Noctis’ advisor. The boy was two years older than Noctis and had just reached the same age that Cor had started to wonder when Theia would settle. Cor had a good idea what Ignis was about to ask.

“Say, uhm… if you don’t mind… when did you and Theia know that she wouldn’t be changing any longer?”

Ignis’ dæmon Sophia was currently in the form of a cat and sitting between his legs. She was just as sharp as Ignis himself was, diligent and careful, easily startled even. Right now both boy and dæmon were staring up at him with round, slightly worried expressions on their faces. Theia herself sat on Cor’s shoulder as she normally did and chirped happily.

“It’s had to say, really. At some point you’ll just… know. It could be tomorrow. It could be after your twentieth birthday. Don’t worry about it too much, kid, both you and Sophia have plenty of time left for that.”

Ignis left, discussing pros and contras of certain forms with Sophia. Ever the advisor, Cor mused as he went back to his patrolling duty.

“He’s awfully serious for his age,” chirped Theia, “but then again so were we at age fourteen, weren’t we?”

“Everything takes a while. Ignis and Sophia will have to go through the same thing that we went through eventually – every person goes through that.”

Theia started pecking at his neck, then fluttered off to pull on his hair for a while. Cor laughed as he tried to get her away from him, but the dæmon was faster than he was. Though many had considered her form odd, Cor had soon realised why she had gone that way. The Blademaster’s dæmon – that was what Theia was trying to emulate. That, and the fact that many underestimated people with smaller dæmons, and she and Cor always wanted to prove their place in the world more than anything else. They had made it that further than they had ever dared to hope; not exactly many people and their dæmons could boast the title of Marshal of the Lucian Crownsguard. But they had done it, issues with getting Theia settled all aside.


End file.
